Shazna joined the People and the Sea Team in the Summer of 2022. She was a fourth year student from the University of San Carlos (Cebu City) where she was studying for a Bachelors degree in Marine Biology.
Her internship formed part of her ‘on the job training’ – a requirement for the completion of her course. Here she gives an insight into her time working with People and the Sea and the opportunities our internships can offer to local Filipino students.
I volunteered for the program in the second week of July, and my volunteer period ended in the first week of August. My experience as an intern/volunteer at People and the Sea was both fun and engaging. Aside from being engaged in the community, I was also able to learn topics other than my focal project. This made me interested in exploring more about marine life and its conservation methods. Furthermore, I was also able to learn many things from the PepSea team, whether improving my work, dealing with issues about doing fieldwork, or just general lessons in life based on their experiences. All in all, it was an amazing experience. If I am fortunate enough to be given the opportunity again, I will do it in a heartbeat.
I am a fourth-year student from the University of San Carlos-Talamban Campus. I am under the Department of Biology and am currently taking the Bachelor of Science in Marine Biology program. My interests revolve around marine conservation, marine megafauna, oceanography, underwater photography, documentary film, and scuba diving. What pushed me to choose marine biology is the fact that when I was younger, I was captivated by films from National Geographic Channel, Discovery Channel, and BBC Earth, with my favorite one being the Blue Planet from BBC Earth. My family never influenced my fascination with the ocean, and I also had difficulty finding people with similar interests as I have since most of the people I knew were more interested in marine flora rather than fauna. The few people I always look into, meaning I read many of their published articles, are Gonzalo Araujo, Kent carpenter, and Enric Sala. Since their work has inspired me to be the marine biology student, I am today.
Before choosing People and the Sea, I was looking for a place that resonated with me. An organization whose vision aligned with mine. A friend recommended People and the Sea, and as I was researching the organization, I found out that the organization’s goal was to pursue community-driven marine conservation, piqued my interest. Hence, I decided to volunteer and dedicate my internship to the organization because I wanted to experience what it would be like to be in a workplace where science and community interact. Aside from that, I was also motivated to join People and the Sea because of their social media platform (Instagram) because it is those platforms where they showcase their contributions to the community. True enough, when I started my volunteer program, I witnessed what was promised on their website and social media platforms.
